Making Amends
by pink striped
Summary: Harry meets the Dursleys in King's Cross Station when Dudley's daughter is on her way to Hogwarts. In their own way Harry's relatives try to atone for the offenses they committed against him and his parents. ONE SHOT


Please note: I do not own any of these characters. They are all the creation of the inspirational J.K. Rowling.

**Making Amends**

Harry held Lily's hand gently in his own as he following his wife Ginny and their two sons through the bustling crowds at King's Cross Station. The boys, James and Albus, were in their third year and fourth year, respectively, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and kept disappearing into the throngs of people, much to Ginny's dismay.

Soon enough however they reached the barrier they had been looking for, the one between platforms nine and ten. Extracting themselves yet again from their mother the boys grabbed their trunks and after waiting a moment to be sure that no one was looking they ran straight at the stone pillar and disappeared.

The boys now safely through to Platform 9¾, Ginny came to stand in front of her husband.

"Are you meeting them here?" she asked.

"Yes. They should be here any minute now. Why don't you take Lily and I'll meet you at the train?" Harry replied.

"Alright. Just don't be late. You don't want to miss saying goodbye to your only daughter on her first trip to Hogwarts," Ginny reminded him patiently, well aware despite the reminder that he wouldn't miss that moment for anything.

"Come along sweetheart. Let's go get your trunk put away and see if we can find Rose and Hugo," Ginny said cheerfully as she took her daughter's hand and walked through the barrier to the platform where the Hogwarts Express was waiting.

Harry remained standing outside in the Muggle world waiting for Marjorie Dursley to arrive. Marjorie was in fact his first cousin once removed, the only child of his cousin Dudley and his wife Nora.

Over the years Harry and Dudley had grown closer as Dudley had matured and were now on Christmas card terms, which was saying something considering that an owl always delivered Harry's Christmas cards.

Their relationship had also been helped by the fact that Dudley had married a surprisingly sensible and pleasant woman and produced a quite, sensitive child. However, his wife's senses seemed to have departed her momentarily when she agreed to her in-law's suggestion that they name the girl after her wealthy aunt in an attempt to get her well placed in the will of Marjorie senior.

Harry thought back on his own experiences with Aunt Marge. His particular favourite, which was always a hit at parties, was the time he had caused her to inflate like a balloon and float to the ceiling.

"Oy Nora. He's over there," Harry heard Dudley shout from somewhere nearby.

The voice was followed by the arrival of its owner a few moments later. Dudley looked the same as ever with his bulky figure and a pudgy face that had turned almost red from the effort of pulling along a large brown trunk. The next minute a petite brunette appeared at his side, clutching in one hand an owl cage and in the other her young daughter's hand.

"Hello Harry," Nora said smiling, "It's good to see you again. Thank you so much for your suggestions for shopping in Diagon Alley. It made the trip so much easier."

"No problem Nora." Harry replied returning her smile.

Turning to Dudley he held out his hand. "It's good to see you too."

"Yeah you too," Dudley managed as he shook Harry's hand.

Bending down Harry politely asked, "How are you doing Marjorie?"

The pretty little girl looked at him for a moment, giving him an excellent view of her scared green eyes, before turning her curly brown head into her mother's side.

"Oh Marjorie it's alright," Nora attempted to reassure her daughter.

Returning her attention to Harry Nora smiled apologetically. "She's just nervous right now. I'm sure she'll warm up as soon as she gets a little more comfortable."

"I understand completely. I was terrified the first time I went to Hogwarts," Harry explained.

There was an awkward pause after this comment as a guilty expression crossed Dudley's face. The silence was broken by a loud bark from behind Dudley.

"Well you managed just fine didn't you? Apparently your some celebrity in your world, right?"

Harry was speechless as he recognized Uncle Vernon standing, half hidden behind his large son.

"What are you staring at? Didn't think we'd miss our little Marjorie's first day did you? It's the proudest moment of our lives, after Dudley's birth and wedding, of course. Right Petunia?"

As he spoke frail Aunt Petunia advanced from behind her husband to stand beside him and nodded shyly. "Of course."

Harry tried to think of something to say but his mind had suddenly gone blank. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were not only here and talking about nonchalantly about the wizarding world but seemed to quite pleased that their only granddaughter was going to become a witch.

Uncle Vernon yet again broke the silence. "So Marjorie don't get into any trouble and make sure you study hard. I think it's about time someone else in this family became a famous wizard."

Finding that his powers of speech seemed to have returned Harry said, "Trust me being something of a celebrity is not nearly as exciting as it seems. People point and stare at you a lot, which is actually quite annoying."

Uncle Vernon responded with a loud "hmph" indicting that he still thought that his descendants should become famous.

"Oh look at the time. Harry you two had better get going," Nora exclaimed checking her wristwatch.

"Here you go," Dudley said as he handed Harry the trunk he had been pulling. After a pause he added, "Thanks for looking after her. I wouldn't have wanted her to have the same kind of first day you had. I owe you."

Dudley's evident love for his daughter and his apology warmed Harry, and he shook the hand Dudley offered him with a new vigour.

"I promise I'll take care of her."

Nora was softly whispering words of encouragment to Marjorie and after a peck on the cheek led her over to Harry who took his cousin's little hand in his own.

As he picked up her owl cage and attached it to the top of her trunk, Harry heard loud sniffling and looked up to find both Nora and Aunt Petunia in tears.

"Thank you so much," Nora managed before she had to grab for her handkerchief.

"Yes, thank you Harry. Your mother would have been proud of you," Petunia mumbled through her tears.

Harry was surprised and touched by this reference to his mother, against whom he knew Petunia had long harboured resentment for her magical abilities.

"I actually stumbled across this album when I was cleaning a little while ago. Your grandmother made it for your mother soon after your parents got married but died before she could give it to them. There are pictures of her from when she was a baby right up to after she got married. Some of them are even the moving kind," Petunia explained as she held out a photo album covered in white silk.

Harry was yet again shocked into silence. Petunia's house was meticulously tidy. Harry knew from years of experience that there was no way that she could have just "stumbled across" anything. The only reasonable explanation was therefore that Petunia had kept the album all those years, an idea which sent a dull ache through Harry's heart. He thought of the pain they had all suffered because Petunia had been too proud to show how much she had clearly cared for her sister.

Standing there at the barrier between the Muggle world and the magical world with his biological family on one side and his chosen family on the other Harry realised that through one small child things had begun to change. He would never be close to the Dursleys and would never love them, but in their own way they were now trying to atone for the offences they had committed not only against him but also his parents.

Placing the album securely under his arm Harry looked once more at this reunion of his strange group of relatives before gruffly telling them, " Goodbye. Take care. I guess I'll see you at Christmas."

With that he turned away from the Dursleys and murmurred to Marjorie, who looked even more scared now than before, "Don't worry. We'll be through in a minute and then you'll get to see all your cousins and set off to Hogwarts. Plus, I think we should get you some pumpkin pasties and chocolate frogs for the ride."

At the mention of the delights waiting on the other side Marjorie's eyes lit up and she turned to look at the barrier with a determined expression on her small features.

After checking to make sure the coast was clear Harry pulled her forward with a phrase that had served him well so many years before, "do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous", and with that they reentered the wizarding world.

* * *

Thank you all for reading this story. I hope you liked it. If you have any comments I would love to hear from you.


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